No Band-aids

The air conditioner in my home finally got fixed this week! I’ve been trying to get this fixed since February or March. Its been a long process but it’s finally done! It didn’t get fixed when I wanted it too, but it happened before I actually needed it. I had a few uncomfortable nights but nothing a ceiling fan couldn’t handle. Part of the reason it took so long was because I went through a home warranty company. Of course I could have handled it on my own and got it done much faster but it would have cost me hundreds of dollars. What I learned from this process is that God is my life warranty. When we do things through Him it may take longer than we expect but we can rest assured that it will happen. When we handle certain things on our own, we may get it done faster but it’ll always cost more than you want to pay. It could be time with your loved ones, money, morals, dignity, etc.

The problem actually started last summer. I called an HVAC company last June to check it out. They told me I had a refrigerant leak but they didn’t know the location or the extent. The leak test would have cost more time and money. (Remember I resigned last June so spending money was not something I was trying to do). They pressed it up with refrigerant as a band-aid fix and it lasted through the summer. At the time I forgot that I had a home warranty so I had to pay out of pocket. The refrigerant alone was $150. That did not included the service fee or labor and they didn’t even fix the problem.

With the warranty, even though it was a long drawn out process, they fully diagnosed and fixed the problem and saved me a lot of money. No matter what the problem is they are guaranteed to fix it and all I have to pay is that one time $75 fee. I had 2 different HVAC companies come to my house a total of 6 times and I only paid the $75 fee once. The warranty company took care of the rest. I pay the warranty company monthly along with my mortgage. That payment is made whether something needs to be fixed or not. It’s the same with maintaining a relationship with God. Just like my monthly payment keeps my account active with the warranty company, prayer and praise keeps our accounts active with God. Pray and praise when things are good and when things are bad so when problems arise, cause they will, it’s easily taken care of.

I had to take time off from work for all these service appointments. The appointments were always a 3-4 hour time slots and I had to be home. I don’t have a salary job any more so no work equals no pay so this was very inconvenient. When you work with God you can’t expect Him to work around your schedule. There are times when He will inconvenience you, but you have to remember He’s doing something for your benefit, to help you out, to take care of something you couldn’t handle yourself. We have to learn to operate in His timing. He may not be there when you want Him but He’s always right on time. My AC didn’t get fixed when I wanted it to but it was definitely on time.

When the repairmen came, each time I just let them work. I didn’t hover and I didn’t question their methods. They know what they are doing. This is their job. They do it every day. People even pay them for it. Even if they did mess something up, the warranty company would have to deal with it, not me. While they were working I went back to handling my own business. We need to step back and let God work. He knows what He is doing. This is His job. Who are we to question His methods? Go back to living your life and let Him do what He does best. Let go and let God.

The initial service request was for the refrigerant leak. In the midst of fixing that, they discovered that my compressor wasn’t compressing even though it only had one job. The repair company didn’t realized there was even an issue with the compressor until after they fixed the cause of the leak. Of course this prolonged the repair process. Two things had to be addressed in order to get one desired result. Sometimes when we ask God to help us with one problem He unveils another that needs to be addressed also. God is a good repairman so He’s not going to overlook something else that needs fixing. When we think God is taking too long to move in our situations, it may be because He’s fixing other issues you didn’t know existed but the fix is necessary to get the result you want.

I do a lot of minor home repairs on my own, (YouTube generation) but I know my limits. I know there are some things I just can’t do, like fixing the AC. There are some things in life that we just can’t do ourselves and when we try, we end up making a bigger mess than what we started with. But if we make that service call to God in prayer and take our hands off of it He’ll handle it. All of it. Nothing missing, nothing lacking, nothing broken. No band-aid fixes.